Noodle Journey Episode 17: Samyang Buldak 2x Spicy Hot Chicken Ramen

Time to up my spicy street cred. This episode covers Samyang’s 2x Spicy Buldak Hot Chicken, the viral challenge noodle that gained a reputation for destroying people at double the intensity of the original Hot Chicken flavor. I’m not eating this to prove anything, I just want to see whether the hype is deserved, and more importantly, whether it’s still actually edible. I’ve already covered the original Buldak and the Carbonara, both of which I enjoyed, so I’m going into this one with a decent idea of what to expect from a flavor perspective, but not from a spice perspective.

Read more: Noodle Journey Episode 17: Samyang Buldak 2x Spicy Hot Chicken Ramen

This was part of a multipack I bought online, and like the others in the Buldak family, it includes a single noodle block, a sauce pouch, and a flake packet with seaweed and sesame. It’s got slightly more sodium than the original, 1360mg (59% DV), but the real difference is in the sauce, which doubles the Scoville rating and delivers that extra burn. Aside from the increased spice level though, the sauce ingredients appear to be largely the same.

Noodles:
Same as the original Buldak. Springy, chewy, and very satisfying when stir-fried. These hold up well to the heavy sauce and don’t fall apart.

• 8/10

Spiciness:
Yeah, this is indescribably hot, even for someone like me who can take down the original Buldak without any issue. It kicks in faster than the original version and lingers longer too. As of the time of this review, this is the spiciest thing I’ve ever eaten. The only reason I can’t give it a 10/10 is because I know Buldak 3x exists.

• 9/10

Overall:
Despite the punishing heat, I still found all the other things I like about Buldak sauce to be present here, It’s flavorful, balanced, sweet, umami, all the things I enjoyed in the last review. Even that little earthy, smoky hit of curry spice is noticeable among the double Scoville level. The problem is that, for me, this level of spice feels more gimmicky than the original. But to be fair, I imagine someone whose spice tolerance is capable of taking down 2x might feel that 3x is the gimmicky one and 2x is perfectly fine. For me, at the time of this review, this is hotter than I can handle, and even though I like the flavor, I find the spice so oppressive that it detracts from my overall score.

• 7/10

If the original Hot Chicken flavor is too mild for you but you like the flavor, your scores and mine are likely to be swapped for that flavor and this one. If you want to train yourself to eat super spicy food, this is probably your most flavorful option.

Notes since filming: At the time of this note, I think this is still the second-spiciest thing I’ve ever eaten. I couldn’t get through it, and I can’t say my spice tolerance has improved enough since 2022 to eat an entire pack of this. So because of that, I will almost assuredly not be bothering with Buldak 3x, for those of you who were wondering. The people that can eat this without getting too bothered truly impress me.

Leave a Reply